SUNNYVALE, Calif., February 14, 2011 - Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT) - a leading network security provider and the worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions – today announced a new release of its FortiOS™ 4.0 operating system for the FortiGate product family, including today’s newly introduced FortiGate-3140B multi-threat security appliance. Fortinet will showcase these and other products at the RSA Conference in Booth #923 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from February 14–18. [Editors Note: Please see today’s announcement regarding Fortinet’s launch of the FortiGate-3140B security appliance.]

The broad advancements offered in the FortiOS 4.0 MR3 operating system introduce wireless controller extensions that support automatic provisioning of wireless access points, detection and suppression of rogue access points, multiple authentication methods and strengthened unified management of both wired and wireless networks from a single FortiGate platform. The upgrade also introduces active profiling and flow-based threat inspection enhancements to the robust OS that already integrates firewall, virtual private network (VPN), intrusion prevention (IPS), antivirus, application control and many other security technologies.

Expanded Wireless Options

With the release of FortiOS 4.0 MR3, powerful new security features and performance enhancements are now available for FortiGate consolidated security appliances. The advanced FortiOS operating system expands the wireless controller capabilities of any FortiGate running FortiOS 4.0 MR3. These capabilities improve security by enabling role-based access control to limit access to regulated, proprietary, or confidential data based upon a user’s role, as well as allowing customers to meet wireless PCI DSS compliance with improved rogue AP on-wire detection and suppression and integrated management and reporting for both wireless connectivity and security.

As a complement to this firmware feature, Fortinet is also introducing the FortiAP-222B outdoor wireless access point (AP), which completes the FortiAP family of access points and allows enterprise-wide wifi coverage across the campus with seamless roaming. The FortiAP-222B is a high power dual-radio outdoor thin AP that provides wireless client access or air monitor in a ruggedized weather-resistant enclosure. This device will benefit enterprises looking to extend their wireless network to challenging non-temperature controlled environments, or beyond the physical footprint of a building or campus. The simple-to-manage-and-deploy FortiAP-222B uses an industry leading high gain 27dB transmit output and highly sensitive receiver which permits coverage to a vast area.

FortiOS Inspection Enhancements

The advanced FortiOS operating system features active profiling that provides the ability to use a form of behavioral analysis to create and actively enforce policies based on deviations from corporate, group or individual baseline profiles. A range of policy enforcement options is available for suspicious behavior, including monitoring, quarantining and/or outright blocking.

Expanded Compliance: Extensions in vulnerability scanning have been added to support rogue access point detection and suppression in wireless networks. PCI DSS compliance requires periodic detection and removal of unauthorized wireless devices.

Setup Wizards: New HTML-based wizards streamline the setup of all FortiGate consolidated security appliances. Setup of basic, as well as advanced firewall, UTM, dual-WAN, and remote VPN security features is now faster and easier.

“Fortinet's strong footing in security combined with our wireless innovation creates an opportunity for companies that need high-performance, secure wireless environments that offer broad protection and the benefits of integrated security," said Michael Xie, founder, CTO and vice president of engineering at Fortinet. “By innovating across hardware, software and wireless dimensions, we continue to meet the evolving security requirements of our worldwide customer base.”